A vaccination failure occurs when the chickens do not develop suitable antibody titer levels and/or are susceptible to a field disease outbreak. Therefore, an updated review (visual-type) has been thoroughly developed in order to highlight the importance of detecting and solving the major vaccination failures in commercial chickens to control diseases affecting this species. The handbook has been written by a prestigious expert with a wide experience in this field. Numerous graphic resources have been included to complement the information provided and make the contents more understandable and accessible to readers.

Mohamed Faizal Abdul-Careem

Dr. Mohamed Faizal Abdul-Careem is Associate Professor (virology) at the University of Calgary (Canada) since 2010. He has obtained his basic veterinary degree (BVSc) from the University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka) and a Master of Veterinary Medicine degree (MVM) from the University of Glasgow Veterinary School (UK) in 1995. He completed his PhD degree from the University of Guelph (Canada) in 2008. His doctoral thesis entitled “Characterization of Host Responses Following Marek’s Disease Virus Infection or Vaccination Against Marek’s Disease”. Following his PhD degree, he was awarded a prestigious Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship to conduct post-doctoral research on innate immune responses generated against mucosal viral infections at the Center for Gene Therapeutics of the McMaster University (Canada). He is diplomate of American College of Poultry Veterinarians (ACPV) and American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (ACVM). He has expertise and strong interests in the area of avian viral immunology. He has around 37 manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals and 90 % of these manuscripts are on avian viral immunology. His research programme at the University of Calgary is supported by grants from Canadian federal, provincial and poultry industry sources such as Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), and Canadian Poultry Research Council. He has established state-of-the-art research facility for his experimental animal and laboratory work at the University of Calgary.

1. Introduction

Significance of poultry infectious diseases

Control options for poultry infectious diseases

General definition of vaccination

History of poultry vaccines and vaccination

Economic benefits of vaccination

2. Types of poultry vaccines

Killed vaccines

Live attenuated vaccines

DNA vaccines

Recombinant vaccines

3. Vaccination techniques

Spray vaccination

Drinking water vaccination

Parenteral routes

In ovo vaccination

4. Vaccine-mediated immune responses

Mechanisms of induction of vaccine-mediated immune responses

5. Evaluation of vaccine efficacy

Monitoring vaccine take

Monitoring antibody response

Monitoring protection

6. Causes of vaccination failures

General definition of vaccination failure

Evolution of pathogens

Poor cross protection between serotypes, pathotypes and strains of the same pathogen